Essentially each line has to be split in two and re-named. I Can take care of the re-naming i just am having trouble splitting the columns. I have to do exactly the same thing in the ReferenceNames Section as well. That one is easier as Its always "0" and "1" so i can simply convert the xml to string and find replace with that. The ReferenceFeatures section though is more complicated because anything can be in the name section.

My advice:INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

pricejt (11/18/2012)I have an xml string and need to manipulate it within sql....

T-SQL is not the language for XML manipulation. It can parse it and it can create it, but not transform it. This task is for XSLT.If you still want to do so in T-SQL you have two choices:1. Parse it into table then create a new one (stupid option)or 2. Create CLR function which will consume your XML, relevant XSLT and apply it (preferred option)